Russia 1917, Europe 1970s

On the 58th anniversary of the Russian Revolution Ted Grant wrote this article in which he compared the revolutionary ideas and tactics of the Bolsheviks in 1917 to the class collaborationist and reformist policies of the leaders of the Socialist and Communist parties in the 1970s. He explains how the Bolsheviks were able to lead the workers to successfully take power in 1917. He also stressed the historical significance of the Russian revolution by quoting Trotsky who said that, "The Soviet system wishes to bring aim and plan into the very basis of society, where up to now only accumulated consequences have reigned." Unfortunately the isolation of the revolution to one country prepared the ground for its degeneration and the coming to power of a bureaucratic elite. However, the experience of Hungary in 1956, and later in Poland and Czechoslovakia, revealed the enormous potential for class struggle and the desire of the workers in Eastern Europe for genuine socialism as envisaged by Lenin and Trotsky. (November 7, 2002)